The Sunday Best is a collection of articles I’ve curated from the furthest reaches of the internet for your reading pleasure.

Every week, I scan hundreds of headlines, read dozens of posts, and bring you the best of the best to save you time and mental energy.

Financial Independence (FI) is a primary focus, but it’s an awfully broad topic. I tend to approach FI and early retirement from a fatFIRE perspective and through the lens of a physician, so expect to see those biases in the selected articles.

Related topics that have become recurrent themes include early retirement, selective frugality, tax issues, travel, physician issues, and of course, investing.

For more great articles, take a peek at The Sunday Best Archives. Now let’s get to the best… The Sunday Best!

 

 

 

Everything I needed to know about compound interest, I learned from an old TV show about a clever crook. JL Collins takes a fascinating look at The Alfred Hitchcock Path to FI.

 

Passive Income MD thought he knew a thing or two about FIRE, but his understanding of it has evolved. 5 Things I Got Wrong About the FIRE Movement.

 

Not long ago, I had a good chat with PIMD about my experiences playing with FIRE, and you can now listen in on our convo on the Passive Income MD Podcast. Podcast #53: One Anesthesiologist’s Journey to FIRE: Interview With Physician on Fire.

 

You may have heard that Jim Dahle, a.k.a. The White Coat Investor, is off the grid for a few weeks floating through the Grand Canyon. Yet, somehow he has a podcast coming out weekly. I helped out by guest hosting the show this week. I’m no WCI, but I think I did OK. You be the judge: Credit Card Travel Hacking with Physician on Fire – Podcast #209

 

Before he left on his Grand Adventure, Dr. Dahle poked some fun at people like me while fairly accurately describing The FIRE Movement: How to Reach Financial Independence and Retire Early.

 

If you were to retire early, what would you do with all that extra time? My thoughts on how to thrive after FIRE with a breakdown of what I do with my newfound free time. What Would You Do With 9 Extra Hours Every Day?

 

Not sure what you’d do? That’s OK, says The Darwinian Doctor. Love your job? Why you should plan for FIRE anyway.

• Bonus Perspective: Love Your Job? Why You Should Still Pursue Financial Independence

 

Once you’ve achieved FI, how should you invest? I respect his insights, but this is one area in which we disagree. Bernstein Says to Stop Playing When You Win The Game.

 

You may not care what either one of us think about risk tolerance for the well-heeled, and that would be appropriate. Ben Carlson with A Wealth of Common Sense lists 10 Things You Shouldn’t Care About as an Investor.

 

Downtown Josh Brown, the Reformed Broker, didn’t pay much attention to Warren Buffett or Charlie Munger when they broadcasted the Berkshire Hathaway annual meeting this year. He’s diverted his attention to entrepreneurs like Jay-Z and Nas, and he’s Sorry Not Sorry.

 

“The times, they are a-changing” -Bob Dylan
“The taxes, they are a-changing” – Joe Biden
Wealthy Doc visits the Debt Free Doctor to discuss the implications of Potential Changes To Real Estate Tax Loopholes Doctors Should Know.

 

My taxes may be going up, but my grocery bill could be going down if the rumors of Aldi coming to town are substantiated. Financial Pilgrimage does a deep dive into the quality discount grocer’s economic model that works so well. Why is Aldi Cheaper than Other Large Grocery Stores?

 

When you have a lot of work at work and a lot of work at home. From Jonathan Ford Hughes with MD Linx, Physician Work-Life Balance and Gender Disparities.

 

Happy Mother’s Day!

 

On this Mother’s Day, the mother of my children will be waking up for the first time in our new house! Happy Mother’s Day to all the Moms across the globe, and thank you for all that you do. Without you, the world would be a desolate, humanless place. With you, it’s a fantastic place to be alive!

 

 

One Down, One to Go

 

We showed our home more than a dozen times in the course of a few days this week. We have several offers and I’m happy with the way we set up our For Sale by Owner home sale.

We did learn a few things, and I’ll elaborate in a future post after both properties we’ll be parting with are no longer ours. Here’s a tip, though. Put your home up on Facebook Marketplace. The local groups generated more buzz and leads than Zillow and Craigslist combined.

 

 

The Tax Planner & Personal Finance Bundle from Kathryn Hanna, CPA

 

Your 2020 tax return is due in 8 short days! I am still waiting on some paperwork, so I’ll be filing for an extension, but I did dial in my taxable income months ago with this incredible tool.

If you are a do-it-yourselfer, this is the most comprehensive and useful tool I’ve come across for doing your own tax planning. I use a CPA to prepare my tax returns, but I like to have a good idea of which deductions I’ll benefit from and how certain financial choices will impact my return.

There are so many moving parts to the tax code. A Roth conversion might help you fill a bracket, but it could also lower your child tax credit, American Opportunity tax credit, or alter your Sec. 199A QBI deduction. That’s just one of dozens of scenarios I can come up with, and this tax planning bundle, which is essentially a series of interconnected Excel (or Google Sheets) worksheets, does it all.

At less than the cost of an hour of most CPAs’ time, you can download Kathryn Hanna’s personal finance bundle at Making Your Money Matter and use it year after year with free updates to the tax input sheet as the numbers change annually.

 

Visit MYMM Personal Finance Bundle

 

 

 

Have an outstanding week!

-Physician on FIRE